A crowd of more than 100 people listen as State Rep. Todd Prichard, D-Charles City, right, and Rep. Josh Byrnes, out of frame, speak about the likelihood of getting federal money to help build an overpass interchange on Avenue of the Saints near Floyd. In the wake of a fatal crash, many in the crowd signed a petition urging the Iowa Department of Transportation to tackle the project.

Floyd rallies for Saints overpass after crash death

Travis Wiemann of Floyd stands next to the intersection of the Avenue of the Saints and Quarry Road for which he started a petition urging the Iowa DOT to take action to reduce accidents.

CHRIS ZOELLER, The Globe Gazette

A crowd of more than 100 people listen as State Rep. Todd Prichard, D-Charles City, right, and Rep. Josh Byrnes, out of frame, speak about the likelihood of getting federal money to help build an overpass interchange on Avenue of the Saints near Floyd. In the wake of a fatal crash, many in the crowd signed a petition urging the Iowa Department of Transportation to tackle the project.

FLOYD — Driving west on the Avenue of the Saints, Sara McDonnell had a sick feeling when she saw a white car begin to drive south across the road in front of her near Floyd.

It was last August at Quarry Road.

“I could see this woman stop and I could see her start again,” said McDonnell, of Omaha. “And I kind of panicked because I knew if she would pull into that intersection, there was no way I wasn’t going to hit her.”

The crash that sent McDonnell’s Toyota across the road was one of 35 crashes reported at the intersection since June 1, 2011, according to county data.

McDonnell, who had minor injuries, believes the Iowa Department of Transportation needs to build an overpass to avoid having more crashes similar to hers.

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The divided four-lane highway, the Avenue of the Saints, runs east and west through the intersection. Quarry Road takes vehicles to the south. Highway 218 goes north.

It is at grade, or level with the road, as are most of Floyd County’s intersections with the Avenue.

Building an overpass at that intersection is not currently in the Iowa DOT’s 5-year plan.

However, the DOT has taken steps to speed up the process should the estimated $18-million project get the green light.

A required environmental impact study was completed last month. DOT spokesman Pete Hjelmstad said a community meeting is planned for November to discuss the department’s desired design alternative, the second meeting with residents it has held in the past two years.

Over the years, the Iowa DOT has made changes in an attempt to make the intersection safer, although many residents at Tuesday’s meeting said those changes weren’t enough and that an overpass is what is needed.

Lorraine Winterink, of Charles City, believes the DOT should take steps immediately to make at least some changes to increase safety.

“I think there’s kind of a good, better, best solution,” she said. “Good would be lowering the speed limit. Better is lower the speed limit and put in a stop light. Maybe we need some flashing lights coming up to that, two miles ahead ... And then the best solution would be that we need that overpass.”

Iowa State Rep. Todd Prichard, D-Charles City, who facilitated Tuesday’s discussion with former State Rep. Josh Byrnes, R-Osage, said he remains optimistic something can be done.

He urged those with concerns to send letters to state transportation officials.

“The good thing is the community is definitely behind this. You look at a town like Floyd, with a population of a few hundred people and about 120 people showed up (at Tuesday’s meeting),” Prichard said. “We heard that people are passionate. They’re tired of the accidents, they’re tired of seeing people hurt and unsafe conditions in their community.

“So now it’s up to us to kind of stay organized and send a message to the DOT that this project has got to be a priority.”

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(2) comments

You forgot to report Quarry Road is a farm to market road (maybe not designated as such) an ethanol plant is a little over a mile south of the avenue of the saints, and truck traffic is heavy . If the Iowa DOT can't see something has to be done here sooner rather than later, They are blind, and more lives will be lost.

As a frequently traveler on this very nice four-lane road, and as a native Floyd County resident who now lives in a metroplitan area, I believe an overpass is a swell solution. That being said, unfortunately, most residents/drivers aren't familiar with the high speeds of four-lane roads. A lot of accidents occur when people think they can just wait in the median for the traffic to clear and forget the speed of other drivers and the time it takes to slow down or brake for a driver that isn't familiar with four-lane driving OR they pull into one of the lanes, thinking that the other drivers will have time to pull into the other lane to let them on the road. There often isn't time to pull into another lane due to traffic on the road. Being aware of other drivers, especially heavily-loaded trucks, and the slow-down and/or stopping speed needs to be taught. The suggestion of having a stop light at this intersection would be more dangerous and not a solution at all.

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